Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) is refusing to divest himself of thousands of dollars he received from a California billionaire who has pleaded guilty in a massive stock fraud case, saying it “disgusts” him when politicians return contributions from donors facing legal problems.

Moran has accepted more than $20,000 in campaign contributions from Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan. Samueli is awaiting sentencing for having lied to Securities and Exchange Commission investigators about his role in a $2.2 billion stock fraud case involving the backdating of stock options at Broadcom Corp., his Southern California tech firm.

In 2007 — months after Broadcom acknowledged the backdating — Moran and Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) earmarked $3 million for the Samuelis’ pet project, a nonprofit institute in Moran’s district that researches alternative treatments such as herbal treatments and acupuncture.

In an interview with Politico, Moran said he had been unaware of Samueli’s legal problems but would stand by the couple, the campaign contributions and the earmark. Politicians, he said, cater to the worst impulses in politics when they rush to return contributions from troubled donors.

“They see somebody down, so they want to kick ’em, so they can look good in the eyes of the media,” Moran said. “That kind of annoys me. It disgusts me, actually. I don’t enjoy kicking people when they’re down. Frankly, I’m proud that he saw fit to contribute to me, and I don’t intend to try to embarrass him by sending him back the money.”

The presidential campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton each received $2,300 contributions from Samueli; McCain is donating the funds to charity and Clinton is returning them. A number of other politicians, including Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Reps. David Dreier (R-Calif.) and Alcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.), told Politico that they’ll give their contributions from Samueli to charity.

But Visclosky aide Jacob Ritvo says the Indiana Democrat has “no immediate plan to return” the $30,600 he received from the Samuelis — even though Visclosky “severed ties with the Samuelis once he learned of Mr. Samueli’s legal problems.”

And Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) won’t return the $32,100 he accepted from the Samuelis, said spokesman Marshall Wittmann, “because at the time they were received there was absolutely no knowledge of any improper or illegal activities, and they were received in good faith.”

Bill Furlow, a spokesman for Samueli, declined to comment on his political contributions, which have gone mostly — but not exclusively — to Democrats. But Furlow said the Samuelis, whose foundation has donated about $200 million to nonprofit organizations over the years, would continue their charitable work.

Samueli, who owns the Anaheim Ducks hockey team pleaded guilty in June to lying to SEC investigators about Broadcom’s backdating. But Monday, a federal judge rejected a deal in which Samueli would have received five years’ probation and paid $12.2 million in fines and forfeitures.

Saying the sentence would have been too lenient, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney postponed proceedings until at least Sept. 29.

Stock-option backdating became a key issue in recent years for politicians and shareholder activists targeting corporate corruption.

So when Samueli pleaded guilty, it left many of the beneficiaries of his wealth wringing their hands.

The University of California is considering stripping his name from the engineering schools at UCLA and UC-Irvine. And the National Hockey League barred him from any involvement with the Ducks or the league as his case played out.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) either did not return messages or would not say what they planned to do with the combined $34,800 they received from the Samuelis over the years.

Visclosky — like Moran, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee — inserted a $2 million earmark into a defense spending bill for the Samueli Institute.

The institute, founded by the Samuelis in 2001, has a $16 million budget and bills itself as “one of an elite group of organizations in the nation with a track record in complementary and integrative medicine, healing relationships and military medical research.”

Visclosky wrote the House Appropriations Committee in April 2007 that his earmark should fund research done by the institute “in partnership” with Indiana University’s School of Medicine Northwest, which is located in Visclosky’s Gary, Ind.-based district.

Only $1.6 million of Visclosky’s earmark was approved, and Ritvo said his boss wouldn’t be requesting another dime for the institute “in light of Mr. Samueli’s plea.”

But Moran, whose Northern Virginia district is home to the Samueli Institute, said he won’t distance himself from the $1 million he earmarked for the institute in the defense bill. All of the money was appropriated, and Moran said he’d consider steering more to the institute in the future.

“I’m proud that it’s in my district,” he said, citing the institute’s efforts to find ways to reduce stress among soldiers and to use lasers to heal wounds faster. “When you walk through to see what they’re doing, I think you can’t help but be very impressed with what they’re contributing to the health of our military.”